Dear All The latest article I have noticed on the emu website seems to comment further on distinctions between orientation and expression (Muehlenberg study). My reading of it sees it as repentence being the sticking point. That is, even if you are a celibate homosexual but not repentent then it is not acceptable for leadership or even membership. So depending on the circumstances homosexual orientation itself could be a bar to ordination AND to membership. The whole article needs to be read but the paragraph below is near the end and is a bit of a summary. As I say this is my reading/opinion, but I am interested in others. This is the first time I have heard an EMU objection to membership directly (I have heard some unpleasant stories from various congregations but not something that has the status to be on the official EMU website).
Quoting from the article:-
"The church of course is made up entirely of repentant
sinners. Everyone in the church still sins. But Christians have had a
fundamental change of mind and heart. A genuine Christian will grieve when
he or she falls into sin, and will seek, with God's grace, to gain victory
over besetting sins. The church must accept and embrace such people. But the
church can not and should not embrace, accept into membership, and put into
positions of leadership, those who willfully and deliberately persist in sin
- be it homosexuality, adultery, or any other sin. (Matt.18:15-17)"
regards
Andrew Watts
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